México City, México – On March 5 the World Federation of Teachers Unions (FISE) successfully concluded its 18th Congress in México City. Militant teachers and education workers from around the world gathered to strategize how to resist regressive ‘education reform’ proposals that capitalist governments are pushing forward in country after country to corporatize and privatize public education.

FISE is the education sector federation of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), an international union federation with more than 92 million members worldwide that is based on class struggle unionism, union democracy, internationalism and anti-imperialism. The 18th FISE Congress was hosted by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), the militant Mexican teachers’ union that has led bold strikes in defense of public education. Throughout the congress, CNTE leaders from Oaxaca, Chiapas, Michoacan and many other parts of Mexico shared their inspiring experiences of militant mass mobilization and strikes to defend public education.

The second day of the FISE Congress included presentations by union leaders from many countries in the Americas and around the world about the struggle to defend public education in their countries. Presentations were followed by approval of several resolutions. One resolution condemned the U.S. government’s denial of WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos’ entry into the U.S. to speak at a labor conference in Los Angeles. Other resolutions were passed in support of the statewide teachers’ strike in West Virginia, and in support of the teachers’ struggle in Puerto Rico against the privatization of public education in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

After the resolutions, the congress delegates voted to pass a general declaration and action plan, and elected FISE’s new leadership until the next congress. The new FISE leadership body includes union leaders from Lebanon, México, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Greece, Tunisia, U.S., Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Panama, Niger, Basque Country, Chile, Morocco, El Salvador and Cuba.

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